Skip to main content

Featured

eBook – The Empire Striketh Back

eBook –  The Empire Striketh Back Full title :  William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back By : Ian Doescher  Iillustrations :  Nicolas Delort Score : 9/10 Year : 2014 Publisher : Quirk Books  eISBN :  978-1-59474-716-8 Based on  978-1-59474-715-1 (hard cover) Pages : 176 *  Language : English From Goodreads : Hot on the heels of the New York Times best seller William Shakespeare’s Star Wars comes the next two installments of the original trilogy: William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back  (and not reviewed as yet,  William Shakespeare’s The Jedi Doth Return.) Return to the star-crossed galaxy far, far away as the brooding young hero, a power-mad emperor, and their jesting droids match wits, struggle for power, and soliloquize in elegant and impeccable iambic pentameter. Illustrated with beautiful black-and-white Elizabethan-style artwork, these two plays offer essential reading for all ages. Something Wookiee this way comes!  *** As he explains at the end, Ian Doescher
Post a Comment
Read more
Labels

Movie- Helen (2009)



Movie – Helen

Score : 6/10  
Year : 2009
Director:  Sandra Nettlebeck
Country: USA. UK. Germany. Canada
Language: English
Duration: 2h00
Helen is an independent movie that might be triggering to some. Indeed, it deals with mental illness, realistically depicting depression through the main character - Helen, as the title suggests. 

 This movie is a bit slow, especially in the earlier stages, but this has a purpose to build up and tell us, the viewers, of the circumstances before onset ; subsequently, this also reminds us that anyone can suffer from depression, which is a rather positive aspect because it doesn't perpetuate misconceptions.

 There is an intentional choice in decor and environment; between the external world and the inner turmoils, which I found one of the strongest aspects of this film.
Another relies on Ashley Judd's performance, and the overall acting of the rest of the cast- and speaking off that, too : casting Alexia Fast as Julie, Helen's daughter ;: she looks like she could indeed be relates to Ashley Judd. 

 The cinematography is well made, notably with the camera panning and angles - most of the time, at least. 

 People look real, not with huge makeup first thing out of bed. 

 There are, however, a few flaws which explain my overall score for Helen : 
First, it's a bit too predicable in some respects. 
Secondly, a cheap song ruins the dramatic effect of a key moment, which is a terrible choice, in my opinion. It should have been silent, or just a slight instrumental dramatic tune - but not that song. 
Third, the ending forces me to imagine details that haven't been said or shown, because what is shown isn't an ending that I totally like - not by itself, because it sends a message that I disagree with. Once I add that intermediary scene in my mind, this ending makes better sense, but I would have preferred a very different ending altogether... which is a bit of a shame, because otherwise it's a rather well made film. 

 I'll remind you again that if you suffer or have suffered from mental illness, especially depression, this might be triggering. 

 It is rated R 

 Casting: Ashley Judd, Goran Visnjic*, Lauren Lee Smith, Alexia Fast, Alberta Watson, David Hewlett, et al. 




Email Post

Comments

Post a Comment